The Battle of Hastings, 1066. The event is one highlighted throughout history as a pivotal turning point. It involved a clash between two claimants to a throne, and the result was responsible for moulding England into what it is today. What led to such a fierce rivalry between two men who once considered each other friends forms the basis of the gripping new historical drama King & Conqueror.
In the 11th century, the earldoms of Wessex, Northumbria, and Mercia have finally found peace after a decade of civil war. As noblemen from all around the country gather for King Edward’s (Eddie Marsan) coronation in London, they are privy to the bloody wars raging across the channel in France, a constant reminder of what they could slip back into if their fragile peace is broken.
William (played by Game of Thrones’ Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), the Duke of Normandy and a hardened warrior, travels to attend his cousin’s crowning. When he is jumped by bandits on the road, William is saved by Harold Godwinson (Playing Nice and Happy Valley star James Norton, who is also an executive producer on King & Conqueror), the middle son of the Earl of Wessex and brother-in-law to King Edward. Neither man knows that in the decades to come, one will be the end of the other. For now, they settle on a begrudging respect, with the potential for a lasting friendship.
Harold is a family man, committed to his wife, Edith (Emily Beecham), and his people in Wessex. He is just and loyal but impulsive, determined to bring the truth to light – even when others, like his father, would overlook it in the name of peace. William, a lauded warrior, is enigmatic and stubborn, his only trusted confidante being his wife, Matilda (Clémence Poésy), the savvy and scheming brain to her husband’s brawn. Neither man has their eye on the crown, but both are reluctantly drawn to it as war begins to threaten the people they hold dear.
THE CAST AND THEIR CHARACTERS
Everything you need to know about epic drama 'King & Conqueror'
It doesn’t help that King Edward (known historically as Edward the Confessor) has let power go to his head, using his authority as monarch to settle petty feuds even at the risk of war. More dangerous still is Edward’s mother, Lady Emma (Juliet Stevenson), who will do anything to ensure her family keeps the throne, and easily manipulates Edward into doing her bidding.
At the King’s coronation, a plot to provoke Wessex back into war comes to light, putting William and Harold on intertwining paths that will lead them to the same destination: the Battle of Hastings.
While King & Conqueror starts and ends with the Battle of Hastings, it is not the only fight featured in the series, and the show’s brutal and raw combat dealings maintain a level of epic suitable for this historical dramatisation. Adding to that is the scale and scope of the set design, costumes, and locations on show in King & Conqueror. Filming for the series took place in Iceland, and the country’s desolate green landscapes and frigid skies lend to the ambience. This is not the opulent world of later historical dramas like The Tudors or Wolf Hall; it is a portrait of a world at war with itself.
Like a medieval version of Succession, King & Conqueror is a tale of rival family members competing for the throne. Its tone and political intrigue echo those of Game of Thrones (minus the fantasy), but it is closest, perhaps, to something like Vikings or Vikings: Valhalla. Both shows explore similar regions and political factions and operate within a similar style and tone.
Creator Michael Robert Jordan puts his experience from his time on other period titles like Pompeii, The Frankenstein Chronicles and Sherlock Holmes to use on King & Conqueror, crafting a lore-heavy, but engaging and dramatic, re-telling. King & Conqueror’s major differences lie in its real-world setting, telling a crucially important period in Britain’s history rarely touched on in historical dramas such as this. It is also built on the shoulders of Coster-Waldau and Norton, whose powerhouse performances make it difficult to pick a side. This results in William and Harold’s unavoidable face-off being all the more climactic when it finally arrives.
The best historical dramas are those that can fill in the blanks between what is written and what is left unsaid. King & Conqueror takes liberties with its source material, using creative license to engineer a dramatic take on this complex and somewhat unknown historical period. While not entirely true to history, the result is an engrossing period epic poised to become television’s next historical obsession.
King & Conqueror premieres in Australia from Sunday 12 October on SBS and SBS On Demand, beginning with a two-episode premiere at SBS on Demand. Find the full details of how to watch here:
READ MORE
How to watch 'King & Conqueror'
MORE GRIPPING DRAMAS
‘Safe Harbor’ sees ‘Game of Thrones’ stars caught up in Irish mob warfare
